Enchanting Opportunity
by Thunderxtw
Summary: After receiving an invitation to the next Tekken Tournament,Asuka’s skills are put to the test when she later discovers she is the prime target of every fighter in the competition.Some unknown force is behind all this and Asuka is determined to find it.
1. Chapter 1

Asuka sat down easefully, layering herself against the soft plush carpet floor of the luxurious Mishima hotel, owned by the elderly and famous Heihachi Mishima, doing countless gut wrenching sit-ups. She was one out of the many skilled fighters that had been sent a prompt invitation to take part in the next King of the Iron Fist Tournament. Being pleasingly excited, she kept the flowing rush of enthusiasm down to a minimum, as to not reveal it to anybody else.

The sole reason for her participation was to have fun, and enjoy the sheer thrill of beating up worthless weaklings just for the simple pleasure of doing so. In the previous Tournament, her reason was to find the man responsible for beating up her father and checking him into the hospital, which she was very successful in doing as she had defeated him in the semi finals.

"Two hundred ninety eight….two hundred ninety nine….three hundred! Cool, I did it." she said, rubbing the tenderness of her aching abs. "Now I think its time to go for a swim."

Asuka undressed from the musty training clothes she donned temporarily and put on a royal blue bikini. Draping a clean white towel over the bone of her shoulder, she proceeded out of the hotel room door in a pair of flip-flops, with the head of her toes poking out in front. The hallway was corroded with bashful silence and an eerie emptiness. None of the other participants seemed to be going out of their quarters to enjoy the pleasurable qualities the hotel had to offer, accept the inside bedrooms.

Asuka went down the railing stairs and sluggishly pushed open the fancy glass made doors that lead to the pool area. The temperature was warm with a nice calm and cool refreshing breeze to go along with it. This was perhaps the best the weather had ever been. Usually it would storm, raining on everything, but not today.

Laying her folded towel down in one of the stretched out lounge chairs, Asuka placed her head cap on the top of her head and rushed forward to jump into the chlorine injected waters. Not a single person wandered or swam in the pool area, just Asuka, alone and not including anyone else. She stayed submerged under the cold water for a few seconds before coming back up for air. When she was done swimming, she laid back in one of the lounges chairs, firmly on her stomach, to relax. It was at that moment a person came stepping through the glass doors into the pool area. Asuka was unaware of their entering presence. With her arms placed on top of each other, she had fallen asleep, not knowing that she was being slowly approached. A soft rigid hand soon hovered over her and caressed itself across her lightly toned bottom. Alarmed by the touch, a startled Asuka punched the offender right below the belt of his waist. The harsh screams of a male bellowing at the top of his lungs struck hard into the walls of her eardrums. Asuka's eyes then opened and she saw an infuriated young Korean man standing over her, swearing in a different language she did not understand.

"Serves you right, pervert!" she screamed, with a hint of happiness in her voice.

"Ow! That hurt! Your lucky you're a girl, or else I would pound you to the floor right now," the man whimpered.

"I'd like to see you try. The next time you pull a stunt like that I'll do more than damage your pride and joy," Asuka warningly hissed.

The Korean man took a quick swipe at Asuka, and missed, hitting nothing but air as she stepped backwards and caught the wrist of his arm before it could swing again. He threw another punch but it was yet caught and knocked down by Asuka's fast reflexes. Next, he threw a third punch with his free arm, but it was countered into a flip that threw him across the floor. As he lied on the ground feeling utterly stupid for being taken down by a girl, Asuka laughed at his attempt to harm her.

"Man, your weak. Winner, Asuka Kazama!"

The Korean man's eyes shifted into fiery balls of hatred.

"Ugh! That name. Don't mention that name to me again!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Kazama. I can't stand the name Kazama. Don't tell me your related to that scumbag?"

Asuka shrugged uncaringly, not having a clue to what he was babbling on about. She thought that sudden trip to the floor made him literally lose his mind.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm out of here, see ya!"

Asuka grabbed her towel from the top of the chair and proceeded through the doors that lead back into the hotel. Water from the pool drenched from her wet body as she came to the elevator, dripping down her arms, legs, and feet. Suddenly, her stomach growled, erupting like an exploding volcano.

"I haven't had anything to eat all day. This place better have something good to eat. I feel like I'm about to collapse."

Going into the elevator, Asuka pushed the button for the fifth level floor. Trough the transparent walls, she could make out a huge food court piling up with hungry customers on the first floor. She decided to go there once she was dry and in a change of new clothes. Lights of the fifth floor lit up and glowed from the ceiling, telling her she had reached her destination. Stepping out, Asuka bumped into a large burly object and fell backwards.

"Ouch. Hey, watch where your…..huh? Its you!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's notes:Thanks for the reviews, guys. I got some comments for you at the bottom if you care to read them. **

* * *

Asuka's diamond sparkling eyes grazed up slowly, searing in a cold fire of anger, seeing the very man that had attacked her father and put him in the hospital, the man known as Feng Wei. The Chinese Kenpo fighter stood in a fixed position, with his sharp eyebrows going into slant. He had recognized Asuka the moment her head accidentally bumped into the front of his burly sized chest. A year had gone by since their encounter and seeing each other for the second time felt like forever. Sitting up from the floor, Asuka patted and swept herself down before making eye contact with Feng Wei. The two traded unsettling glares as they stood eye to eye, not even taking in a second to blink. 

"Didn't think I'd see you here," huffed Feng.

"I felt the same about you," Asuka hissed with a serious stare. "How is the healing from the beating I gave you coming along?"

Feng Wei's mugged face cringed in sorrowful pity at having to remember the losing battle he had with Auska over a year ago. The loss felt a lot like a sharp pain, piercing and digging deep in the back of his mind.

"You got lucky last time. Little girl." he scoffed. "This time if I we have to fight you again, the outcome will be much different."

A quiet laugh escaped Asuka's lips. She saw Feng twisting up the story to encourage his confidence, but she wasn't going to be so gullible to fall into his trap of thinking luck was her only reason for defeating him.

"Say what you want. I'm in no mood to deal with you right now," Asuka quipped, after walking away.

She proceeded to her room entrance, taking the key out and opening it up to hear the springy screeching noise of the door after it was flung open. A cool swift breeze of air built up inside the room from the active air conditioner swept past her face, hair, and body, welcoming her to step in and appreciate it.

The bathroom door was wide open and she rushed inside, kicking the flip-flops off and undressing out of her bikini for a quick shower and a direct change of attire. She later came out, sporting a yellow sleeveless shirt and a pair of short black jeans that ended at the knee, with matching black tennis shoes. Everything was now perfect and clean, except her hair. It was messy and damp, laying flat down, dripping in wetness. She couldn't go out like that and had to do something to fix it.

First, she dried it off with a towel and applied a special hair cream to her scalp before combing it into the preferred style she was accustomed to. Within a minute, her hair was lush and beautiful, with several strands appearing shiny and moist. Now that her hair was flawless and her body was clean, she snatched up her room cardkey and took the elevator back down to the first floor. The elevator descended to the bottom level at a turtles pace, pausing a few times to pick up others looking for a quick ride. A soothing flow of music played through the ceiling to relax everyone as they waited.

Finally, the platform came to a stop on the first floor and the doors automatically slid open, letting the exiting passengers leave. The size of the hotel and everything inside it seemed limitless. At every corner there was something to catch the eye of the people. Large water gushing fountains were built in a realistic design of animals and humans. Hallway walls were decorated with foreign paintings and red wallpaper. The velvet carpets covering the floor were stainless and the chandeliers made of glass dangled high up in the ceiling for everyone to catch a glimpse of their nice sparkle. But Asuka didn't spend her time staring and admiring the fancy hotel's scenery. Her hungry lion growling stomach was more important.

At the food court, she placed an order for something healthy in opposition to ordering junk food. Her body was on a strict set diet because of the Tournament. To compete she needed to be in the best shape possible, which meant eating no junk food, no matter how good it smelled, looked, or tasted.

Fresh salad was the meal of choice. It was placed in plastic bag and given to Asuka to accept. She gladly paid for the dish of vegetables and found a seat by a lone standing table.

"This looks good," She thought, running her plastic fork through the crispy lettuce.

As she ate, she looked on at two strangers sitting at a table across from her, a young Asian girl with long hanging pigtails and a man keeping his face from view underneath a blue hood. They appeared to be having a conversation, but Asuka couldn't make out what they saying with them being too far away. It did not matter though. What they were talking about probably wasn't that interesting anyway. Within a passing minute, Asuka saw the Chinese girl scoot back from her seat and stand up, coming right over into her territory. Asuka looked back down into her meal and ate, pretending to not even notice the girl approaching her. The girl reached her table, smiling.

"Hi! I've never seen you before. What's your name?" The girl greeted with her hand extended.

"Asuka…." She said, taking hold of the hand and firmly shaking it. "Yours?"

"Oh. My name is Ling Xiaoyu, but you can call me Xiaoyu for short. That's what everybody else does. Am I disturbing you?" the girl said, gaping at Asuka's stiff expression.

"Of course you are."

Xiaoyu frowned in sadness, but didn't take into account that Asuka was just messing with her as a simple joke.

"I'm just kidding. You're not bothering me," Asuka smirked. "You want to sit down?"

"No thanks. I need to get back to my friend or else he might disappear on me again. I just wanted to introduce myself because I've never seen you before."

Looking over Xiaoyu's shoulders at her hooded friend, Asuka's eyebrows arched in suspicion.

"Why doesn't your friend come and say hello? Is he shy or something?"

Xiaoyu's face turned back to her table.

"Him? No. He's just not feeling well. Something's been bothering him lately, but I don't know what for the simple fact he won't tell me when I ask. Look, I got to go. It was nice meeting you, Asuka!"

Xiaoyu waved goodbye as she retreated to go sit back down with her friend. Asuka, afterwards, consumed the rest of her meal. A pleasant feeling of fullness hit the whole area inside her stomach with a thin belch kicking its way through her closed teeth.

She was ready to go and elevated herself from the chair to stand. But before she could move, a quick hand had touched her shoulder to stop her. This wasn't what she wanted, an interruption to slow her down. Her head swung toward the hand's owner and realized it belonged to the Korean man that in a perverted manner touched her bottom earlier by the pool.

"This better be good. What do you want?" Asuka chirped.

"I been thinking about you since we met. And I thought my actions were a little immature back there at the pool. Can I buy you something to make it up to you?"

His voice was sweet, sounding thoughtful and willing to admit a fault in the way he approached her, but this was just a trick to try and snag a date. Asuka thought hard about what her decision should be, unable to see through his fake generosity.

"Well….as long as you don't pull a stunt like that again, I'm willing to forgive you and accept your apology."

"I won't. You need not worry about that. So, where are you off to?"

Asuka bit her lip. "I don't think it's any of your business to know that."

The Korean man laughed again and perpetrated a calm smile, but was really upset by her remark.

"I just wanted to know. I'm bored and have nothing else to do."

Asuka sighed, thinking maybe having him tag along with her wouldn't be so bad.

"Alright. I'll let you hang with me, for now, but if you touch me again in a way I don't like you know what'll happen."

"Yes I know," he said in a displeasing sigh.

"What's your name, by the way?"

"Hwoarang."

"I'm Asuka," she took a moment to shake his hand. Hwoarang felt an iron like grip clamping his hand in a squeeze.

"Damn! She's must be strong," he thought to himself.

"Well, Hwoarang, shall we go?"

"To where?"

"Outside. I just want to go for a walk around town."

"Ok."

Asuka and Hwoarang left the building, walking the sidewalks of Tokyo, Japan.

* * *

**paigematthews1225:** yo dude that was awesum plz keep writing im dying of suppense already lol u r so totally my favorite writer im telling u ur gna b famous sumday even tho u dnt believe me watever wenever sum1 doesnt listen to me im right so yea ok good luck in other chaptrs buddy

Lin 

**Thunder's reply:** Ha ha. Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it so far.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Thee Slushee**: AHA! serves Hwoarang right! Luvd ur first chapter. cant wait for more!

**Thunder's reply:** Hee Hee, thanks!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Astral Slayer Asuka**: hey in this story will asuka be jins sis or cousin?coz most ppl do sister but hey i aitn forcing you into picking one rather than the other hey love the title and this chapter is pretty cool anyroad good luck and sayonara

**Thunder's reply**: Sorry, but I don't like to give any spoilers to my stories, even if its little tiny tidbits of information. Its just something I've grown very fond of doing. But thank you for your review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's notes: Ah, yes. Finally, Chapter 3 is here. Sorry for the long wait. I know chapter 2 was a little slow and I hope this is an improvment over that. Well, enjoy!  
**

* * *

The walk through busy Tokyo felt like a long narrow trip that lasted for hours, for Asuka had made it seem that way with her constant babbling of last years previous Tournament. Spoken from memory, she recalled the first day she showed up at the event, first for a personal confrontation with Feng Wei and then later to have fun. It was a joyous moment when she finally put the man that hospitalized her father in his place after watching his jaw swollen face splash into a puddle of mud. She was confident, but still aware that another fighter could pose to be an even greater challenge than Feng Wei. 

Jinpahci Mishima was the final combatant at the end of the long road strip of the Tournament. Asuka had more of struggle fighting him than the others. His power was incredible, seeming endless and unlike any other seen. He hurled explosive balls of fire from his mouth-opened stomach and generated huge earthquakes under his unshackled feet. His power was too great at the start of the fight and soared even higher once he confirmed that he was holding back his true potential.

Creating devastating winds that could rip cities apart in mere seconds, Jinpachi was looking to destroy all things in existence, including Asuka. But the young girl from Japan wouldn't have it. Though things seemed bleak for her, she was determined to win and banish the ugly nightmare off the face of the Earth. She used every trick she knew that was taught by her father, but none of it fazed Jinpachi. He shook it off and continued to pummel her viciously. That was when he threw one final attack that he believed would defiantly finish Asuka off. He fired another scorching fire to collide into Asuka's body, but she anticipated the move and ducked before it was close enough to touch her. Moving forward, she came at Jinpachi and battered him with punches and kicks. The grandfatherly Mishima then died and was turned into particles of loose dust that was thrown into the twirling winds, the winds he had created to annihilate all existence.

Asuka snapped back from her old memories to look at mind wandering Hwoarang, who wasn't paying much attention to a word she said. Upset at this action, Asuka so badly wanted to punch him for ignoring most of her story. She stopped herself before her hand connected with the side of his turned head, and noticed clouds of thick fog developing in the air.

"That's strange," Asuka said. "I don't remember hearing anything about it being foggy today."

"Don't listen to forecasters. They don't know what the hell their talking about," Hwoarang sniffed.

Asuka thought heading back to the hotel was a good idea to get away from the fog before it got worse, but it was too late. She could no longer see Hwoarang. Her line of view had been shrouded by the smoggy weather. Becoming a little worried, she called to Hwoarang to find his location.

"Hey, Hwoarang! Hwoarang? Hwoarang? Where did he go?"

There was no response expect for the sound of the wind blowing freely, combing the uneven mounds of dirt on the ground. Asuka held on to herself to keep warm and wished she had brought a jacket to escape from the cold air that was touching her as the fog blanketed everything before her. This was terrible since she had to walk blindly through the city to find her way back to the hotel alone. The city was uneasily quiet after the fog covered up everything. Asuka couldn't hear cars wheeling past, the children screaming, or the sound of people walking by. She was alone, alone and lost without a clue of what to do.

Stretching her hands out in front, she tried to feel around and touch objects, hoping they could determine where she was. She knew the Tokyo territory well, but being masked in fog made it difficult to navigate through the city.

She continued to pace forward, despite the fear that she might run into something unexpected with the soft pounding of her own tennis shoes being the only noise present. Within a few seconds, the fog lifted slightly and Asuka looked on and was able to see the hotel just a few feet away.

"Yes! Finally!" She shouted in excitement, not wanting to stay wrapped in the gloomy weather any longer.

She walked through the sliding automatic doors that invited her in with the air-conditioned breeze that threw her strands of hair back. The entrance inside was welcoming, but a cold vibration rolled down the side of her spine that wasn't as welcoming. She saw people, actual people for the first time since her encounter with the fog being the only thing she could view at the time. As delighted as she was to see them, they didn't return the same grateful expression. Their eyes carried cold penetrating glares that would scare the fur off the mightiest of lions.

Making eye contact with Asuka, they all hissed and snarled like rapid dogs ready to chew on a fresh meal. She stepped backward cautiously as they approached but felt something grab and take hold of her from behind. Craig Murdok it was, putting his massive arms under Asuka's armpits and clinching her in a powerfully tight hold. She couldn't escape, just wiggle and try to squirm.

"Ah! Man! Strong power," Asuka said under her breath.

The glaring eyes of Tournament participants, Steve Fox and King appeared before her, cracking their heads and knuckles in anticipation. Asuka knew what they were going to do, but she couldn't react and make a move as Craig tightened his grip even more with his bare fist coming in close to her face.

One by one, King and Steve jolted Asuka with solid punches to the stomach. She screamed and kicked her feet up wildly, hoping to escape and return the hits. Each punch felt different and varied in strength, but Asuka soon had enough and managed to kick a leg up that knocked King and Steve Fox over.

Looking up at Craig, she smashed her elbow into the ribs of his body. He kept his hold locked in, but made it known that he was losing his grip from the heavy force hitting his stomach. Asuka knew it was irritating him, so she kept it up and elbowed Craig even harder. Hollow grunts leaked through his sour lips as he could feel the grip of his hold loosening. Soon he let go, and Asuka broke free, kicking him in the face with the bottom of her heel.

The deviled eyed hotel employees and guests armed themselves with any object they could use as a weapon, as did the tournament fighters. They all, in a wall of bodies, circled Asuka, enclosing her with little room to breath. A couple of the bellhops armed with sharp broken Champaign bottles took a few quick swipes at her torso. She treaded backward and avoided getting stabbed but was tackled down in the process by another bellhop. Kicking her foot up, she knocked the group of attackers down before they could pounce on her on the floor. Asuka fended for her life, punching, kicking, and smashing heads together, violently fighting her way through the hoards of people seeming to be possessed.

Blood was drawn and bones were broken but not from Asuka. She was dishing out the pain, serving everyone that dared to touch her a nice sandwich in the form of knuckles. But the hoards still continued their attack and it would only be a matter of time before they wore Asuka out in exhaustion. They came at her like fresh troops being thrown straight into battle to replace their fallen comrades. She couldn't take on all of them, there were just too many to fight all together. Asuka then made a hasty retreat and darted toward the hallway that wasn't polluted with bloodthirsty psychos. King, Craig, and Steve Fox gave chase, their eyes all-glaring in the same eerie color. Asuka dashed past the bathrooms and bedrooms searching for an escape route as she wondered what was going on with everyone in the building.

"Today must be one bizarre day. Why is everyone mad at me?" she pondered.

Up ahead, she saw the door that lead to the staircase. She pushed it open and climbed the stairs with the others still in hot pursuit. The heavy sounds of multiple feet moving behind her could be heard echoing off the walls. She had reached the fourth floor and was going up to the fifth, but Feng Wei leaped down from the upper staircase and blocked her path.

From the front and behind she was trapped, the hissing snarls of the hotel guests, employees, and tournament fighters coming closer to her. An awkward smile grew on her face as she threw her guard up.

"Heh…..funny. Things don't look too good for me right now, but I kind of like the challenge."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's notes:Hey there everybody. Sorry that this one was a little late. I had home work and other things to do, so there was a delay in my plan to submit earlier. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Asuka braced herself for a tough battle, throwing her guards up and moving into an appropriate fighting stance, never thinking she would find herself taking on everybody inside a hotel building, but still, this wasn't too out of the ordinary for her. In the past, she had fought dozens of people at the same time, from local school bullies to perverted drunks, who would come down to suffering black eyes, broken noses, fractured ribs, or all three and possibly even worse when coming in close contact with her. 

Feng Wei swung his fist forward to attack, but Asuka sidestepped his incoming blow and he wound up falling down the stairs and crashing into the angry mob that stood behind her. Everyone fell on the floor and against the plastered walls from Feng's massive weight and caused a little distraction for Asuka to make an escape up to the next floor. She held on to the thin black rails implanted on the sides of the stairs to avoid tumbling over while running. The stairs going up seemed endless, as if they had just kept appearing out of thin air to frustrate Asuka, but she kept moving, and didn't look back. Within minutes, she had made it to the rooftop of the building, and quickly barricaded the door with a long piece of wood she saw sitting on the ground.

The view from above the building was beautiful with a nice look at the city and ocean, but would appear rather unpleasant for anyone who had a fear of heights, with the view of the ground below being barely visible. A group of small buildings and a couple half structured skyscrapers were seen in the distance, meters away from the hotel. Asuka saw no other ways of escaping, except to jump off the rooftop. It was a long fall from a twenty-story hotel building and she wasn't looking to make a jump that would most likely end up killing her.

The barricaded door was being pushed with great force by the predators chasing after Asuka. They were doing everything in their power to knock the door down as she could hear the sounds of them ramming heavy objects to try and burst straight though. She backed away toward the edge of the building and could feel there was no other trail of floor left to walk on.

"Oh this is just great!" Asuka said, upset that she was backed into a corner with the only option of falling down to escape.

Soon, the door burst open and King, Steve Fox, and Craig Murdok stepped though with the angry mob of people behind them for support. Devilish grins grew on their faces as they could see their target had nowhere left to run. They came closer with hands reaching out to grab hold of her, but Asuka wasn't going to stand for this to happen, and instead, chose death in battle as opposed to death of trying to escape. She preferred to die a fighter, if it came to that, than be a coward and try to run. Her hands were thrown up again in defense, and she circled around, stepping away from the edge of the building to move closer to her attackers. Her knuckles balled into fists and she was ready to strike at any moment, only waiting for the aggressive mob to make the first move. Before a sudden punch was thrown, Asuka saw the angry mob of people before her pause stiffly and scream in horrific agony. Each of them suffered headaches that brought them down to their knees with their eyes slowly reverting back to normal, no longer glowing eerily.

"Ugh…. what happened? How the heck did I get up here?" said a confused Steve Fox.

"I was about to ask the same question," said Marshall Law, rubbing his head.

"That's weird, I could have sworn I was sleeping," mumbled Julia Chang, wearing a nightgown.

The fighters, guests, and employees were all confused and unwary of what happened. Some came to the conclusion that sleeping walking was to blame, but it seemed rather awkward for that to be the case. Shrugging it off, they headed back inside the hotel to return to their activities and duties.

Asuka scrunched her hands in anger as she watched everyone go back inside like nothing happened. She screamed at the top of her lungs to get their attention and ask questions, but everyone grumbled and ignored her as they proceeded back in the building. After she came back inside, on her room floor she discovered a dozing Hwoarang lying on the floor, holding his stomach and head.

"Hwoarang? Hwoarang! Are you alright?" Asuka said rushing over to help him up.

"Whoa, I promise I won't drink ever again," he said.

"Huh? Hwoarang, what happened?"

"Well, I remember being in the fog and the next thing I knew…. Bam! I blacked out. When I woke up, I was laying here. Must have been the alcohol that did it. I knew it messed people up, but damn!"

"You need to go to your room and get some rest," Asuka requested.

"I would, but my roommate, Steve Fox, kicked me out. Those lazy hotel people had to put me in a room with him. He's upset because I always left the place in a mess when he came back from wherever he went."

"Well, I can't let you sit here. I'll take you to my room. I have an extra bed you can sleep on until you feel better."

"That'd be great," Hwoarang grinned, coming up from the floor.

Asuka lead Hwoarang to her room like a lost child, having to hold his hand and keep him stable. His blurred vision was shaky and his body was worn out to the point where he could barely stand. He was thankful of Asuka's kindness but didn't go far in trying to show it.

"Here we are," Asuka said, opening the door to her hotel room. "You go sit on the bed or watch TV."

"Gladly."

With Hwoarang taken care of, Asuka went into the bathroom to wash up. She ran a heap of cold flowing water from the sink faucet and splashed it onto her face.

"This doesn't make any sense," she thought. "One minute they're chasing me, trying to kill me, and then the next minute they don't even know what the heck is going on. What would cause somebody to act like that?"

Suddenly, a booming voice disrupted her thinking.

"Hey Asuka!" Hwoarang shouted sluggishly from the bed.

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Washing up. You should try it when I'm finished. I could smell you're underarms when I brought you in."

"Hey!" Hwoarang said, insulted by that statement. "I'll have you know I spray myself down with cologne every day."

"Then maybe you should try using the whole bottle, or maybe a new brand, because you stink!"

The sound of the running water came to a halt with Asuka walking out and demanding Hwoarang to step in.

"Ok, it's your turn. I'm not letting you sleep in that bed till you shower."

"Jeez, you sound like my mother. Who died and made you a parent?" he grumbled, closing the door behind him.

Asuka stood beside the door and listened as Hwoarang turned the knobs on the shower, still wrapped in her thoughts of the incident that occurred earlier.

"What if this whole thing is some kind of joke? What if Hwoarang is in on this whole ordeal? No, that can't be true, could it? I don't know. I'm so confused right now on what to believe. I probably won't get any sleep just worrying about it."

"Hey Asuka!"

"Argh! If he calls me one more time I'm going to hurt him," she said, silently under her breath. "What!"

"I don't have any clean clothes to put on. I forgot to get my remaining pair back from my old room. Would you be a good little runt and go get them for me?"

Asuka's mouth smudged into an angry frown, regarding his words with strong dislike.

"First of all, don't call me a runt, musty pits. Second of all, since when did I become your servant?"

"Since now, go to room two fifteen. And while you're at it, go get me a can of punch from the vending machine, on the double!"

"I'll give you some punch all right," Asuka murmured walking out the door.

She didn't like being commanded to do things for others, especially for somebody like Hwoarang, but she was only doing it to get away from him and have some time alone to think. Upon stepping outside in the hallway, she spotted Ling Xiaoyu and another person, having a conversation with each other.

"Jin, talk to me already!" She begged. What's wrong?"

"You need not worry about it," he replied.

"Well the least you could do is…Asuka?" Xiaoyu said, noticing the girl from Japan coming down the hall.

"Oh, hi. Xiaoyu, right?" Asuka asked.

"Yes. Hey, I'd like you to meet my friend, Jin Kazama. Say hi, Jin!" She commanded, nudging her elbow into his stomach.

The young man called Jin turned his head for a brief moment, nodded and turned back to Xiaoyu, depreciatingly. With a faint gasp, Asuka's eyes widened after seeing the silent stranger's face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's notes: Sorry for the late update. Again, I was busy tending to my other fics. Enjoy! **

* * *

Asuka gasped after seeing the gloomy smooth surface of Jin Kazama's face, as he looked awfully familiar to her like she had seen him some place before, though she couldn't remember the exact location of where. Not only did that surprise her, but Jin's last name being identical to hers also caught her attention. It could have just been sheer coincidence, but Asuka didn't know whether to believe it or not. She was curious over the whole matter and stepped within the boundaries of the mysterious young man's space, glaring at him eye to eye. 

"Hey. Where'd you get that name from?" she said with her arms cross-folded.

Jin exhaled a quiet sigh. "My mother, Jun Kazama, gave it to me. Why do you ask?"

Asuka pointed her thumb toward her face. "My last name is Kazama, too. That's weird to me because I never met somebody with the same last name before."

Jin suddenly, and without giving notice, turned his head back at Xiaoyu. "I'm going to lay down for a while. I need as much rest as possible if I'm going to compete."

With that, Jin walked off and went back to his hotel room, not even giving off a departing gesture to either Xiaoyu or Asuka.

"My, that was rude!" Asuka hissed, watching him disappear around the corner of the hall. "He doesn't have good manners."

Xiaoyu frowned, putting her hands together in a praying formation and bowed down slightly. "I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive him," she said, apologetically. "He acts like that a lot around people."

"Yeah. Besides not saying goodbye, he had the uttermost nerve to ignore me. Well, anyway, I got to go get my friend's clothes from another room. You want to come with me?"

Xiaoyu pondered the thought, but didn't give a straight answer right away like Asuka was hoping. She truly wanted to go back to her room and see what Jin was up to, but if anything, it wouldn't be something interesting that would make her want to hang around very long. Jin spent most of his time in bed sleeping away countless hours of time he could have used to wander the hotel and share some fun with the others, but he wasn't about fun. Jin was a man of seriousness and when he had his sights set on something, nothing would distract him away from his goal. He was focused on the Tournament and the Tournament alone. Nothing else mattered to him with that being his only interest.

"Come on, Xiaoyu. I can tell your bored," Asuka said, pretending she could read her mind.

"Well….ok! I'll get a chance to get some exercise from it, I guess."

Asuka proceeded down to the second floor of the building by use of the hotel stairway with Xiaoyu following close behind. They had reached the room door Hwoarang told Asuka to go to. But rather than knock Asuka hesitated for a moment.

"Xiaoyu," she said, turning around to face her.

"Yeah?"

"What were you and Jin doing an hour ago?"

Xiaoyu made her hand into a fist and placed her under her chin while she thought. "Well, Jin was in bed sleeping. I just sat and watched TV. We didn't go outside or do anything because Jin always insists on saying inside. Why do you ask?"

Asuka sighed regretfully before speaking. "I know you probably won't believe me, but I was attacked earlier by…..."

"Oh my goodness! Attacked? By who?" Xiaoyu interrupted, rudely.

"Mostly everyone in this building."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Hwoarang and me were outside roaming the town and out of nowhere this fog comes in and blinds us. I had a hard time getting here and when I did everybody in the building was giving me these creepy stares. The next thing I knew, they were all attacking and trying to murder me."

"Gee, that is scary. What happened after that?"

"Well, I fought them off and they chased me upstairs to the rooftop when I recovered. I was attacked by Craig Murdok, Steve Fox, King, the hotel guests, the employees, everyone! The people I know I didn't see were you and Jin."

Xiaoyu gasped. "That might explain it!"

"Explain what?"

"I heard some strange noises running through the hallways. I was too worried about Jin and his condition to check it out. I did wonder what they were though. It sounded like a stampede of bulls were running by."

"Jin's condition? What condition?"

"Well, Jin was sick and I was trying to take care of him of course. He threw up in the bathroom several times and complained about suffering sever headaches. That's why he was bedridden, but then later he became fine."

"hmmmm…."

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't know. This all strange to me."

"Well, you have nothing to worry about. If people decide to go ballistic again for no reason against ya, me and Jin have your back."

Asuka was proud that Xiaoyu offered her assistance if the incident were to happen again. Luckily, things were quiet and the people seemed to be back to their usual selves.

Asuka turned back to the door and knocked hard, rowing on the back of her heels as she stood in wait. There was no answer at first, but when she knocked a second time, the door slowly opened and behind it was a shirtless Steve Fox, only wearing a pair of black shorts.

"Evening ladies," he greeted. "How may I help you?"

"Um..yes. I'm here to pick up Hwoarang's clothes for him," Asuka said, nervously remembering that it was Steve Fox that was among that people that attacked her earlier. He was of course his usual self.

"Ugh! That bum had to send you down here to pick up his clothes? Why didn't he send himself? Lazy bastard," Fox cursed.

Asuka asked herself the same questions. She never did anything for anybody that consisted of having to grab their belongings and bring it back to them, unless it was her parents, but for Hwoarang, something was just telling her to just go with his wishes and do it. Steve Fox left the doorway for a minute and came back with a bag of Hwoarang's belongings.

"Hey, don't tell him or anything, but I stole one of his drinks from his bag," Steve whispered, handing Asuka the bag.

"Why?"

"Because, that guy owes me money and he didn't pay up. Is he rooming with you, by chance?"

"Well, sort of."

"Here's a warning to you, my friend," Steve said, waving for Asuka to come closer.

Asuka bent over and listened." Watch him. The guy lies like there's no tomorrow. Don't trust him with your stuff or anybody else's. He'll never change. I'll tell you that now."

Asuka thanked the English boxer for the bag and the useful information, though she believed somewhere down the line she would have figured it out for herself. She proceeded back to her room with Xiaoyu and came to the bathroom door, knocking, after stepping inside.

"Ok. I got your clothes."

Hwoarang opened the door, snatched the clothes from her grasp and closed it back. He came out minutes later dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Ah, that's better," he moaned at the pleasure of being clean. "Hey, what's Kazama's girlfriend doing here?" he said, glaring at Ling.

"Kazama? Oh, you mean Xiaoyu. She's with me."

"I don't care. Anybody that associates with Kazama shouldn't be allowed within my presence."

"I'm sorry to be causing a problem," Xiaoyu frowned. "I could leave."

Asuka blocked the door way and folded her arms

"No! You're not going anywhere."

"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out," Hwoarang scoffed.

Asuka became infuriated at Hwoarang's attitude toward Xiaoyu. It reminded her of the bullies that would often tease at her friends. She wasn't going to stand for his rude behavior any longer and took matters into her own hands. Immediately, she grabbed hold of Hwoarang by his ear and yanked him toward her with great strength.

"Hey! Don't be rude to my guest! This is my room, not yours. You don't tell people what to do."

"Hey! Let go! If you don't by the time I count to five, you'll be on the ground crying for your mother."

"Just try me!" Asuka dared him.

"Ok. Uh…one….two…three…four…….."

"Well?" Xiaoyu said, expecting him to finish.

"Hush, woman!" Hwoarang urged her. "I'm trying to get Asuka the easy way out!"

Hwoarang was really stalling his time. He didn't want to fight Asuka, and not because of fear, but deep down he had obtained a sudden liking over the young girl from Japan. He loved to make her upset out of pure fun, but when it came to violence he wanted no part of it with Asuka, though she was embarrassing his ego in front of himself and Xiaoyu.

"You were going to do something to me, Hwoarang?" Asuka muttered.

"I will, just give me a minute."

Hearing that, Asuka turned him loose and sat down on her bed, a little ticked that she didn't get to hurt him.

"That was strange, Asuka. Didn't you say Steve Fox was among the people that attacked you? Why was he being so friendly?"

"I already said he reverted back to normal somehow."

"Wait. What's going on? Did I miss something?" Hworang said, grabbing their attention.

"Asuka was attacked earlier by everyone in the hotel building, including the fighters. Didn't she tell you?" Xiaoyu asked.

"No. The little runt doesn't tell me anything," he grumbled. "Isn't that right, Suka?"

"Little runt? Suka?" Xiaoyu said, scratching her head.

"Those are my nicknames for her," Hwoarang clarified.

"How about I call you thick headed jerk face!" Asuka said, laying herself down on a pillow. "I'm going to go downstairs. I'm hungry again."

She threw the door open and stepped outside, only to hear frequent shouting traveling through the hall in a tone of worry.

"Help! Somebody! Please!"

"What the? What's that?" Asuka said, coming toward the screams.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Asuka followed the girlish voice crying out for assistance down the hall. She had bolted quickly out the door, leaving it to fling open and smack hard against the wall, creating a line of webbed cracks upon its delicate structure. The voice would call out even louder as she homed in on its location. Near the elevator, she saw Jin Kazama lying on the rugged carpet with a small girl sitting beside him.

"Hey! What's going on? What's wrong with Jin?" Asuka asked, coming closer.

"He doesn't look too good," said the girl as she worriedly tried to keep his head elevated from the floor. "He's looking paler by the minute."

Asuka noted the tiny beads of sweat dripping from Jin's face. He appeared to have a fever of some kind, also suffering from a severe pounding headache. He would continuously curse and move himself away from the girl's reach as she tried to touch his face with her hand to try to relax him.

"Get away from me!" He screamed, repeatedly.

Asuka crossed her arms as she kneeled to the floor, disgusted by Jin's rude behavior of evading assistance. He wanted to be left alone with whatever the cause that was bothering him, but hardly anybody was going to allow the young man to lay flat on his back and scream in agony all day.

"Hey! Let us help you!" Asuka commanded. "Quit being so stubborn!"

Jin coughed with his teeth clinched. "You don't understand. Just go! Its getting worse and your not helping."

"If you weren't sick, I'd hurt you right about now. You should be lucky I'm even deciding to help you."

Asuka and the young girl helped Jin to his feet, but the pain tightened up in his stomach and brought him down to one knee.

"Come on, Jin! Fight the pain. Quit being such a wuss! I know it doesn't hurt that bad."

Jin violently shoved Asuka and the girl away while kneeling on the floor, creeping against the plastered wall and sliding down until his butt hit the ground. His face began to ooze more sweat as he pressed his hands against the sides of his head to try and suppress the headaches that bothered him.

"Hey you," Asuka said, addressing the girl. What's your name?"

"Miharu," she answered.

"Well Miharu, do you think you could stand him up while I go call an ambulance?"

"I would, but he claims he doesn't need an ambulan…."

Jin suddenly shot up from the floor, screaming loud with all his might as the pain burning within his mind went deep into his chest and weighed down his legs.

"That does it. I will call an ambulance. You stay with him," Asuka ordered, rushing back to her room.

"Will do," Miharu confirmed.

Asuka barged into her room and yanked the phone off the hook, dialing the hospital quickly. Hwoarang and Xiaoyu came to her side suspiciously, to see what the problem was. As she brought the phone close to her ear, Asuka did not hear a dial tone. She tried dialing the hospital again, but there was no usual noise.

"What the? The phone's dead," she muttered as she placed it down on the table.

Xiaoyu carried an expression of worry as she tugged away at Asuka arm. "Asuka, what's wrong?"

Asuka did not want to relay any of the information she knew concerning Jin to Xiaoyu, believing it would only scare her. Nevertheless, she had to know, she was Jin's one and only friend, the single person who seemed to care for his well being the most and look out for his best interest. The female Kazama could see it her new friend's eyes without even having it explained.

"Xiaoyu, Jin is sick, really sick. He looks like he needs a doctor."

"My Jin is sick!" Xiaoyu squealed.

"Yes, but the phone isn't working. I suggest we lay him in here until we can manage to get one over here. Moreover, I doubt the hotel is going to do anything about it themselves if they find out. They do not seem to care about anything but making money."

"Where is he now?"

"He's out in the hall with Miharu. I'll help her bring him in here."

"He's outside? Please, get him!"

"Look, there's no need to panic, just say…."

The TV and lights from the ceiling immediately shut off, blackening the room in total darkness.

"Should we panic now?" Xiaoyu asked.

Asuka grabbed a small flashlight from her luggage bag and led herself to the outside hall, where she discovered all the power within the entire building was out.

"This isn't good," she mumbled to herself, brushing a strand of hair away from eye.

She explored the hall until she met up with Jin and Miharu, who were seen coming toward her. Leading them back to the room, she laid Jin on top of the blankets on her bed. Xiaoyu slowly crawled on the bed and smeared her palm against her sick friend's face.

"Jin, don't worry, it'll be ok. Is there anything I can get for you?"

Jin tried to speak, but all that came out was a soft stutter that was too hard to translate.

Hwoarang leaned against the wall, mugging Jin with a fiery vengeance surging though the pupils of his eyes. His rival laid in front of him, staring up at the ceiling as if he was on his deathbed. The Korean could see the pain intensifying as he watched Jin toss and turn rapidly in the bed.

"Man, he looks bad," thought Hwoarang." I do not think he will be able to make it to the tournament in that condition. It is a shame really. I was so looking forward to beating him this year. Damn it, Kazama, why must one of us always get in a predicament when the chance we get to fight comes near."

Asuka leaned against the fluffy red bed pillows, wiping the steamy beads of sweat from Jin's face with a moist towel from the bathroom, while keeping her flashlight fixed between her legs.

"Well guys, it looks like there's no power in the whole building," she said.

"No power? What'll we do?" Xiaoyu said in a low whisper.

Hwoarang gave a confident smirk. "I don't know why you girls are freaking out. As long as you got the stud master here, you have nothing to worry about."

"Now you're just being ridiculous," Asuka scowled. "You need to take your foot out of your mouth and realize we're in a delicate situation here."

"What delicate situation? You mean, Kazama?"

"His name is Jin!" Xiaoyu said, correcting him.

"Chill out, both of you. I was just kidding."

"Well your joking around doesn't help, my Jin's really sick."

Asuka paced to the door. "I'm going downstairs to get in touch with the front lobby and see if they can do something about this. I will be back soon. Just watch after Jin while I'm gone."

"Hold on there, runt. I am going with you. You will probably need some help," Hwoarang said.

"I'm fine looking after myself. Besides, you can keep Jin and Xiaoyu entertained while I am away."

"Entertain? What am I, some kind of clown?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Just shut up and go!" He said, frowning.

Asuka scurried into the shadowy darkness of the hallway with her flashlight in hand. Not a single shed of light burned within the quarters of the building. All was quiet, giving off an eerie unpleasant silence that made Asuka walk slowly with extreme caution. She crept to the stairway, placing her hand on the side rail. It felt cold, just like the building's temperature, which had dropped exceedingly, right as the power went out. Before she knew it, something jumped down from the ceiling and attacked with unrelenting rage. Asuka held her flashlight up just as she backed away, seeing it was one of the lowly bellhops. His eyes glowed a sickly green color with saliva forming around his lips. Another zombie like bellhop emerged from the bottom staircase and grabbed Asuka from behind, strangling her with his hands. Again, Asuka would not have it, thus elbowing him in the stomach to remove his touch from her body.

"Great, the freaks are out again," said Asuka.

The other bellhop reached for her neck, but only tasted the thickness of her knuckles digging into his cheeks. She swelled part of his face, and he backed off into the corner, only to lash out at her again when he recovered. This time, Asuka kicked his groin and slammed his head into the wall, but he recovered again, shortly, shaking the pain off and moving back into a stiff stance.

"No way," Asuka muttered. "I hit you too hard with that one."

Asuka then felt a jolt of pain hit her ribs in the form of a kick. Apparently, the bellhops did not just possess enhanced recovery, but an increase in speed and power as well. This fight was getting tougher and all Asuka could do was hold her ribs as she leaned against the wall and fell to the floor. She was now at the their mercy with things not looking too bright for her. However, it was not over just yet. A heavy kick soon shot up and whipped into the stomachs of both bellhops with a harsh sting of pain that had them whimpering on their knees. Hwoarang stepped forth from the shadows with his arms crossed, displaying a cocky grin before taking his finger and waving it in the air.

"Naughty, naughty. You boys should know better than to mess with girls."

The bellhops stood on their feet and jumped at their smiling new foe, attempting to bite deep into his flesh. Hwoarang smacked their heads together once they within grabbing range. As she watched him annihilate her attackers, Asuka noted something. Hwoarang's fighting ability was fiercer with the bellhops than the encounter she had with him when they first met. She looked on, as the Korean seemed to have everything under control and his favor.

"Wow, he's actually not bad. He might be more of a challenge than I thought," she laughed, still holding her ribs.

Soon enough, the bellhops' fell to the floor, unconscious from the blows taken, their glowing eyes reverting to normal. This left the young man raising an eyebrow in suspicion as he walked over to check on his friend. Against the wall on the floor, Asuka reached up and grasped Hwoarang's offering hand with her own.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but why are you here? I thought I told you to stay in the room."

"Men don't take orders from woman, it's that simple. I do not listen to anybody but myself. Anyway, what is with those two? Did they get fired or something and decide to just go berserk?"

"I don't know what's going on. The same thing happened earlier."

Suddenly, the lights came back on and the power to the building returned. Asuka wanted to kick herself, for she had almost forgotten about Jin after the two bellhops attacked her. With time wasting away, she needed to act fast. She quickly rushed to the front lobby, filling them in on Jin's condition and requesting an ambulance to come to the hotel. It took a few minutes, but the paramedics made it, wheeling out Jin on stretcher as he tried to toss and turn on his back.

With Jin safe in the hospital's custody, Asuka and the others could finally breath easy. Xiaoyu retreated to her room with her friend Miharu, while Hwoarang was to stay the night with Asuka. Hwoarang brushed his teeth and washed up before going to bed, with his roommate already sleeping. He could not help but watch, as she lied there, snoring on her pillow.

"Hey, she's kind of cute when her mouth isn't flapping," he chuckled with a smirk. "It sounds for odd for me to say this, but she almost looks like an angel for some reason. I wonder why? Bah! What do I know?"

Hwoarang pulled the sheets over his body and sunk his head into a pillow. Lying on his stomach, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, but was awakened by an irritating sound. Asuka's snoring had gotten louder, disturbing him from getting any rest. He tossed his head underneath the pillows to drown out the noise, but he could still hear her snores filling the room. For hours he had to sleep hearing it, almost driving him mad.

* * *

**Morning time **

Hwoarang woke up from the covers, yawning and stretching out his arms toward the ceiling as the warm rays of the sun passed through the open curtains. He looked around and took notice that Asuka had disappeared from her bedside.

"Where the hell did she go?" he wondered.

His question received an answer when the cold flowing sound of water gushing from the bathroom sink caught his attention. It turned out Asuka was washing up for the morning. The sudden rush of water stopped and the squeaky noise of the handles of the sink turning passed through the walls. Asuka stepped out finally, donning a pair of black capri pants, a light blue blouse, and black short-heeled slip on sandals. Her hair was moist and smoother looking than it was the other day and her skin was much clearer to the eye. Hwoarang stood with his mouth hung open, speechless, as he watched his roommate approach and dazzle him with her appearance.

"What? What's wrong?" she said.

"Nothing," he replied softly. Its just… damn, you look great."

"You think so?"

"I mean it. You've never looked this hot," he complimented

"Well, thanks. I'll take that as a compliment," she smiled.

Hwoarang fell flat on his bed. "So, we have one more day before the tournament starts. What do you want to do before then?"

"Oh, I wish it would get here sooner. I cannot take the suspense any longer. It is killing me."

"There is a new mall opening up down the street from here, I heard. Would you like to go there?"

"Nah, I don't care for that sort of thing, but I am hungry and could use some breakfast."

"Ha, ha. You and that stomach of yours. Well, there is a nice restaurant close by we could try. You up for it, runt?"

"Yeah. Sure," Asuka said, nodding in agreement.

**

* * *

Sorry about that, I haven't updated in days and wanted people to know I am still alive and doing this story, lol. And sorry about it being slow in some areas. I promise it will pick up soon. Anyway, ignore what I just said, what did you think? Review, please.**


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

**Author's notes:** _**Greetings everyone. I'm back, finally, with another chapter. I won't bore you with details this time around of my absence. Just sit back, relax, and read at your own conveniece. **_

* * *

Asuka and Hwoarang exited the hotel quarters, engaged in a light conversation that soon turned into a bickering discussion leading into a meaningless argument. As the norm, they argued often, loudly, and sent people's heads turning in their direction, though they did not pay the onlookers any thought. 

Entering the small but quaint restaurant, Asuka and Hwoarang took a seat at a small rectangle shaped table, across from each other. The building, though new, did not pack many customers. Only a small crowd of people was present, while the rest of the tables and chairs stood empty. It was not anything out of the ordinary. Not every business that just opened would bring in customers so quickly.

Asuka pulled a folded menu from off the wooden rack of the table and scanned it with her index finger; Hwoarang followed and did the same. Soon enough, a waiter approached their table and smiled, looking to serve his hungry customers. The minute Asuka saw his face, she asked him to take her order down. As for Hwoarang, he struggled as he read his menu and asked to have more time to make up his mind. The referee bowed in respect to Asuka and Hwoarang's wishes and left for the kitchen.

"I hope they cook fast because I'm starving," said Asuka trying to calm the growls developing within her empty stomach. Again, she felt a little frail as usual, as if she did not eat anything for weeks. Hwoarang could not believe his ears, that his roommate had such a humungous appetite, one that even dwarfed his own.

"Arent you on a diet, runt?" he questioned with a cocked eyebrow. "For somebody as small as you, you sure like to eat a lot."

Ignoring the Korean, Asuka continued to gaze at the menu to see if there were any other dishes she would have an interest in trying, but her order was complete for now. Meanwhile, Hwoarang grumbled in frustration as he kept flipping the pages of the menu back and forth.

"Heh, I'll take anything. It doesn't matter what I get," he said, trying to play it cool.

"Ha," Asuka said with a cached smile. "You are just like dad. He can never make up his mind about anything."

Hwoarang's attitude reminded Asuka a little of her father's. He was peaceful and calm at times, but also frustrated during others. Though not intentional, her saying had left the young man curious about her male parent for a moment.

"Your old man, huh? What's he like anyway? He's probably happy he doesn't have to put up with a little squirt like you right now."

Asuka went into a hazy daydream. She rarely would talk about her father, especially to strangers she barely knew. However, as time went on, Hwoarang was becoming less of a stranger to her and more of a friend despite the constant fights they broke into. Her father was a martial arts master, one who taught her the arts of his technique when she was young. He did it so Asuka could protect herself from the bully-flooded schools she attended. This, in one-way or another, sparked her attitude to change differently from the usual. She became a vigilante like menace that would go from area to area, beating up on all the wrong doers she came across on the streets. With her bold but arrogant personality, Asuka developed a need to solve other people's problems for them, usually by knocking the offender out cold with a stiff right hand. She protected her friends, family, and anybody else that was on good terms with her, but her attitude got even worse in later years. Asuka built a tough reputation where many had feared her. Intimidated by her tough approach, boys refused to talk to or come near her within a certain distance, and any girl that was not her friend simply refused to associate with her in anyway. Hwoarang, of course, did not know any of this and Asuka chose to leave it at that. Though she pretended it did not bother her, her arrogance had ended up making her quite lonesome at times.

"He's just a martial artist," she said, without much care.

"You sound like that's a bad thing," Hwoarang chuckled. "I wish my dad would have known some fighting art back in the day. But no, the bum did not know crap."

Asuka raised her head, interested in learning of Hwoarang's father too as he was hers.

"What was your father like?"

"Why should I tell you? You will not even tell me about your dad. Oh, he's just a martial artist," he scoffed, imitating Asuka's voice.

Asuka clinched her fist on her lap, but restrained it from reaching across the table. She did not like having her voice mocked by anyone, but it would seem Hwoarang would be the first person to walk away without a broken jaw, or a bruised arm.

"You know, I could hurt you right about now, but I think I'll refrain from doing that since we're in a restaurant."

"For your information, little girl, you couldn't hurt me if you had the chance. I'd slaughter you in an instant."

Asuka shook her head in pity, smirking at Hwoarang's bold claims. "Well, how come you did not slaughter me with your amazing skills the day we met, oh great one?"

Hwoarang hesitated before he spoke. "Like I said, it is not my nature to hit puny little girls and send them crying home to their mommies."

"You sound pretty cocky. I hate cocky people," grumbled the nervy girl.

"Oh yeah? Then look no further then in the mirror, you hypocrite, because you're the same way."

In actuality, Asuka would be one to accuse of being somewhat arrogant herself. She never thought she could lose at anything, thinking she was untouchable. She enjoyed putting her opponents down with brash insults and witty comebacks, but she, however, did not see this as a fact.

"Well, anyway." she said, moving away from the subject. "Can I ask you something?"

"That depends on what it is."

"When you said I was hot, did you mean it?"

Hwoarang looked straight at her, not expecting her ask such a thing. As he pondered about the question, the waiter returned with Asuka's order and sat it on the table.

"Sir, are you ready?" asked the waiter.

"Give me the best thing you got on the menu," Hwoarang said, heading back into his talk with Asuka. "Of course I meant it. Why do you ask?"

Asuka put a hand up to place the conversation on hold as she picked food from her plate with a knife and stuck it into her mouth. Hwoarang's eyes were ready to bulge from their sockets as he saw the girl nearly done with the food on the plate in just seconds.

"My goodness. You eat like a pig."

"Shut up!" Asuka said with food crumbs flying out her mouth.

With her food devoured, Asuka smiled as she saw Hwoarang's order brought to the table right after she finished.

"Mmmm, that's looks tasty."

"You better not think of sticking your silverware in my meal, runt."

Hwoarang could tell Asuka was still hungry. She was good at that, but she would not fool him so easily, for he knew she wanted more then just a tasty morsel.

"Oh, come on, just a little piece?" she said sweetly, kicking his kneecap underneath the table with her foot.

Hwoarang cautiously slid his plate closer to him and watched it carefully, never taking his eyes off it as he ate. He could see through the pretend smirk Asuka was displaying, her eyes focused directly on his food. He knew she would eventually try something sneaky, and when that happened he would ready himself to counter it. A minute later, he noticed a small fork reaching close to his hands, but grabbed it before it touched his plate.

"Ok, you. Enough!"

"Give it up, Hwoarang," Asuka commanded.

"Never! You had your food already!"

"Yes, but I'm still hungry."

"Well, bite your tongue then. Sheesh."

Asuka then kicked the Korean in his leg as hard as she could, causing him to scream and let down his guard as well as his silverware.

"Ahh!"

"Ha ha. I win. You suck," Asuka said, gathering the remains of his meal into her hand.

Hwoarang almost lost his temper, but calmed himself by pounding his fist into the table. He could have had more. Unfortunately, Asuka took the rest of his food and swallowed it. The only thing he could do was pay for the bill while he stared irritably at the human garbage disposal that was Asuka.

As they left the restaurant with the day far from over, Hwoarang carried a look of despair upon his face. Something was pestering him inside, or so it appeared.

What's wrong with you?" Asuka asked.

"Oh nothing," Hwoarang said. It's just that…oh look. What's that?" Hwoarang pointed toward the sky and Asuka looked up seeing nothing but the clouds.

"What? Where? I don't see anything."

Just then, Asuka felt a strong hand slap hard across her behind with the joyous sounds of laughter. Her face turned bright red as she looked to Hwoarang, seeing that he had ran off ahead of her in response to her shocked facial expression. Giving chase, Asuka followed him and caught up. Though her shoes slowed her down a little, she was still quick enough to come close, grab Hwoarang, and tackle him to the ground without much effort.

With her face surging with unbridled anger, Asuka raised her balled fist high in the air, ready to strike Hwoarang in his cheek, but his laughter deterred her hand from touching him. He laughed as he looked at the bright redness forming in her cheeks after he had slapped her rear, finding her expression quite humorous. Slowly, Asuka laid her hand down and smiled, laughing with the Korean as she lied on top of him, kneading her arm into his belly by accident.

Hwoarang liked the position he was in, but also found it uncomfortable. As he lied there not wanting to get up, he believed he had to say the words to do so anyway.

"Um, do you think you could do me a favor?" he asked.

"What?"

"Could you get off me? Your knee is sitting on my you know what."

Gasping in surprise of her carelessness, Asuka pulled herself off his body and helped him up from off the sidewalk.

"Man was that funny. So, what do you want to do now?" Hwoarang asked her.

Asuka gave a displeased frown. "Just for that, I'd like to take you on in match somewhere. I want to get some practice in before the tournament. You can be my training dummy."

"Practice? I know a quiet park area we could try. But how can we? We're not even dressed to spar."

"Hwoarang, I'll fight you in what I have on."

Hwoarang held back a laugh. "You're going to fight me? In those clothes?"

"That's right," Asuka said with guaranteed confidence.

"But you got on Capri's and sandals."

"So? I could understand if you're too much of a chicken to fight me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Do you know who your talking to here? I'm no chicken."

"Ok then. Prove it!"

Hwoarang then led Asuka to a secluded area in a park where nobody would come to disturb them. The moment Asuka had took her position she kicked her sandals off and stood barefooted with a cocky smirk, letting her toes nestle between the grass and dirt. Finally, she would get to see some action for once since the last time she was involved in a fight. She punched a fist into her palm and pointed at Hwoarang.

"Ok you, let's go!"

"I'd thought you'd never ask."

Hwoarang immediately swung his foot into Asuka's pelvis, but a clutching grab froze it in place. Still holding her smile, Asuka pushed the Korean down and twisted his leg. Pain creaked in his thigh as he used the one he had free to kick his opponent off the other defensively. Rubbing his leg after getting up, Hwoarang noticed Asuka's foot moving toward him, and with no time to evade took a stinging shot in the abdomen. His head curled to his chest as he bent over, only to have the softness of his stomach hit by Asuka's raised knee on the way down.

Hwoarang had received a small sample of what his Japanese opponent could do, but he was not out of the fight yet. When he saw Asuka going for a punch, he grabbed a hold of her wrist and nailed her in the stomach with a kick of his own. He used a fling of kicks to batter her body until she was tired, nearly stumbling over on her heels. Although Asuka was hurt too, she was not going to give in easily. Before she hit the ground, she swept Hwoarang down with her leg. Hwoarang swiftly caught himself and sprung back up, but met the hard knuckle of Asuka's fist touching the bare flesh on his nose. Quickly, he saw little droplets of blood raining down to his lip as he recovered. That shot Asuka did angered the Korean and drove him to lay on the hurt even more. Though the female Kazama saw the blood leaking from his face, it did not alter her decision to attack him. Hwoarang waited as Asuka drew near, readying his legs to do damage to her kidneys. As her body came within hitting distance, Hwoarang unpredictably changed his strategy, scooped Asuka off her feet, and slammed her on the grassy floor.

"Ha! I got you now. I win," Hwoarang said, standing over her.

"Don't get too excited," Asuka whispered as she drove her foot below his belt.

"Ow! No fair. Your such a cheater."

Both of them lied in the dirt, panting, smiling, and wiping the sweat off their faces. Hwoarang stared up at the sky on his back, as did Asuka. The two of them actually had fun together.

"Nice job, runt. You didn't do bad."

Asuka sat up. "I won't lie. You impressed me a little too."

"_Boy, I don't know where this girl gets her strength from, but she has plenty of it,"_ Hwoarang thought to himself. _"I wonder if she could beat up Jin. Ha, now there's an idea."_

"_I'll give the guy credit,"_ Asuka said in her mind, _"no one has ever kicked me that hard before. He might actually be a challenge. What's really weird to me is that I'm really starting to like this guy. He's got heart. A little small on the brains and charm, but he's got heart nonetheless. I look forward to facing him in actual combat soon."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note:** _**Hey there. Another day, another update. Christman break is coming up soon for me and I should be able to send chapters more freqently when that happens. Yay! No school!   
**_

* * *

The whole day had ended with Asuka and Hwoarang entering the scaling Mishima owned hotel building, ostensibly half past midnight. The lights in the hallway that led up to their breezy air conditioned room were a little dim, but still functional and clear enough to make out the path ahead of them. Asuka pushed open her room door quietly after sliding the keycard the hotel had provided her with through the electronic lock. 

She dawdled herself to the bathroom with her first priority of the usual washing up and changing into her nightclothes. Hwoarang, on the other hand, fell asleep at his bedside just as the side of his smug face dove into a cushioned pillow. Asuka stepped out in a slim black t-shirt and shorts, taking a brief notice of the Korean slumbering peacefully, looking happy with his typical boastful smile. She would have nagged him again about washing, but refrained from it just to leave Hwoarang alone, knowing his day was just as fun and exhausting as hers. Coming to the foot of his bed and checking him over, she slowly pulled the warm blankets over his resting body and walked to her bedside, her mouth stretched open from a soft yawn. Today they were friends, in a strange way, but tomorrow they would be enemies fighting against each other. Asuka did not seem to mind that Hwoarang and her would likely meet in the tournament to do battle, and the sleeping Korean had felt the same way. They were actually looking forward to seeing the full extent of the other's skill. With that in mind, Asuka pulled the chain on the lamp to switch it off, closed the envelopes of her eyes, and fell asleep.

_

* * *

_

The next morning Hwoarang awakened abruptly and noisily from his bedside, his eyes panning around the room in search of Asuka, who was nowhere in sight. Her bed, unusually made up, had the covers draped over it and her nightclothes lying on the top, folded neatly to perfection. Not worried, Hwoarang, with his jaws widespread, went into the bathroom for a hot shower before he threw on his fighting attire. He put on a white karate uniform, tied a band around his head, and laced up his tennis shoes when he finished drying off. Asuka still did not return, however.

Now suddenly having some concern over Asuka's disappearance, Hwoarang walked himself downstairs and into a large dining room where most of the other competitors were eating breakfast that the hotel had offered. He looked around, hoping he would spot Asuka sitting somewhere by herself, but saw nothing to that extent, just filled tables with some of the foes he encountered from last year's tournament. To his surprise, he saw his old sensei sitting at a table, Baek, opening a small but thick book, and scanning the printed black text with the nail of his finger.

"Master Baek?" Hwoarang asked, driving the man out of his peaceful state of mind.

His sensei looked up blankly.

"Hwoarang? Good to see you again. You did not expect to see me here, did you?"

"No sir," came a shaky voice.

"So how are you? Have you been staying out of trouble?" Baek said in a fatherly tone.

"Yes."

"That's good, you……"

Hwoarang then interrupted. "Um, Master Baek, I have a question."

"Yes? What is it?"

"I'm looking for a girl and I was wondering if you had seen her."

"A girl?" Beak stroked the hair on his face. "Describe her to me."

"Well, she's Japanese, kind of short, built like a woman, though she's looks no less than twenty, and has brown hair and eyes. She has a big melon shaped head and a funny little nose that twitches when she gets mad all the time. Not to mention she has this annoying as hell voice that sounds like…….."

"Hwoarang?" came a soft voice.

"Does she look and sound like her?" Baek smirked, pointing to the person standing behind his student.

Hwoarang turned around to see his roommate standing fixed with her arms brought into a fold. Judging by her expression, he could make out that she was not happy with his description of her body and facial features. Asuka wore a black halter top with overalls cut off far above her knees, black matching gauntlets, and lightly armored boots. It was actually like the same outfit she had worn in last year's tournament, just of an altered color.

"You know, I can't even count on my fingers how many times I've wanted to beat you senseless," she huffed.

Hwoarang snickered. "I did not realize you even knew how to count, runt."

Beak stroked his facial hair again. "Hwoarang. Is this your new girlfriend, by any chance?"

"Who? Her? No, of course not."

Asuka grunted, turned around, and started to walk away. Her stomach had growled three times straight, begging for nourishment. "I'm getting something to eat."

"Not without me your not," Hwoarang declared, smoothly, grabbing her arm and walking with her into the large line of people. Asuka was quiet during the whole wait, with her eyes focused only on people's trays that walked past her. Once they had obtained their food, they sat down at the nearest table and began eating.

"The tournament fighting stadium isn't too far from here. I've seen it," said Asuka. "They're already in the process of finishing things up."

Hwoarang just listened as Asuka talked, but soon, she had gone off into another discussion about something else that did not hold the Korean's interest for very long. He could only pause and nod his head as she asked him questions. But, unknown to him, she caught on quickly to his act.

"Ok, big shot, what did I just say?" Asuka asked, knowing he had not been listening to a word she said.

"I don't know," Hwoarang admitted, shrugging. "And I don't really care."

Showing a sentiment of feeling disrespected, Asuka devoured the rest of her breakfast, angrily pounded her fist against the table, and walked off, not even bothering to scoot her chair back in its original place. Hwoarang was under the impression that maybe he had hurt the Japanese girl's feelings, but that was a rare occurrence. He never knew Asuka to just get up and leave. Normally, she would hit him or dish out one of her usual insults, but during that time she did nothing, she just vacated herself to another location away from him.

"_Maybe that was a little harsh,"_ Hwoarang thought. _"I should apologize. But, on the other hand, why should I? She does nothing but talk about gossip and stupid crap I couldn't care less for."_

He went back to munching the soggy cereal between his grinding teeth and then rose from his chair to head to the fighting tournament, following suite with the other fighters that had already left.

The King of Iron Fist Tournament was just now within its beginning phase with the announcer announcing the lineup of competitors as well as how long each match would last. If the timer ran out and the match ended without a winner, the fighter who had carried out the most damage and appeared able to continue fighting would obtain the victory, while the loser would be out of the tournament and have his or her name knocked off the bracket.

The matches were off to a slow start, not really holding the audiences attention for very long. But hope still existed to make things interesting. In natural suspicion, Jin Kazama lurked from the shadows privately, fully recuperated from his illness, as he kept his eye on an unnamed fighter, one he had never seen before at the other events.

Meanwhile, Asuka warmed herself, stretching and cracking the bones of her body. Ling Xiaoyu then appeared from her right.

"Asuka! Hey!" she greeted, harmoniously. "You ready to fight?"

The seventeen-year-old girl did not respond as she continued her stretching. Something was on her mind, vexing her.

"Yo, earth to Asuka! Hello?"

Asuka shook out of her concentration.

"Oh, sorry. I did not mean to ignore you," she apologized.

"Are you ok? It looks like something's wrong. You wanna talk about it?"

Asuka leaned herself against the barricade below the bleachers and sighed.

"I got a bad feeling about something."

"A bad feeling? About what?"

"I don't know. I've been walking about so far and nothing has happened to me."

"What are saying? Are you expecting someone to try and hurt you again?"

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry yourself over it," she said, trying to steer away from the subject.

Asuka then had heard Hwoarang's name called first through the speakers for the next match. It was now his turn to fight, but his opponent's name went unheard, that is, until he made his entrance present in the fighting square. A stranger, hiding his face underneath a cloaked mask, named Demosquose, was the revealed opponent, and Hwoarang could do nothing but smile as he saw the match ending in his favor rather quickly.

"_This should be easy,"_ he thought.

Asuka grunted in disgust as she saw the Korean's face come into her line of view as she looked on from the outside of the fighting square. Hwoarang and Demosquose met eye to eye, as they came to the center of the fighting floor with stern expressions. Neither man flinched or turned away from the other. Their cold glares remained in place for several seconds, until the referee had authorized them to begin the fight. Hwoarang brought one arm back and the other forward as he drew up a well prepared fighting stance.

"Come on, let's dance!" he jolted.

Demosquose stood stiffly like an immovable statue and did nothing as the cocky gang leader taunted and teased him. Hworang waited for his opponent to make a move, but did not seem mobile. Soon, Hwoarang had become impatient with his foe as he continued to hold still and not move an inch of his feet off the floor, or move his entire body.

"Are you going to just stand there all day? Fight already!" Hwoarang commanded.

The mystic stranger just stood with a gaze, but not Hwoarang, who intended to do something different. It was getting ridiculous to people just stand and stare, and the crowd booed in response to nothing happening inside the ring as no action took place to excite them.

Finally, Hwoarang had had enough of the nonsense. He swung his leg in the air for kick to Demosquose's head, but his body froze in place as he felt something numb him from within his nerves. He then dropped to the concrete slab floor, screaming in immense pain. Noticing this, Asuka came closer to the ring to check on him.

"Hwoarang, what's wrong?"

"Something……something…..something is attacking me!"

"What? Where? I can't see it!"

"It's my head! It feels like something is crushing my head!"

Demosquose smirked under his mask, and, for the first time, spoke.

"You are a great asset to us," he hissed. "Now you must serve our wishes. You are to kill……her."

The mysterious fighter pointed a haggard finger at Asuka and folded his arms in wait. Hwoarang tried to fight whatever it was attacking him from inside and sustain it, but he could not do it for long. He struggled and struggled hard .The thing started to take over, take control as it ached his mind, leaving him a brainless zombie. His eyes then shifted into the same color the other fighters had donned when they attacked Asuka for the very first time.

"Hwoarang? Are you alright?"

The Korean did not answer. His eyes beamed to the side, glaring with a spooky glow at Asuka as he approached and grasped hold of her neck with two strong, frigid hands.

"Wh….What are you do….ing?" the girl coughed as she could feel her body rising up off the ground.

"Fulfilling a mission," answered Demonsquose, with a twisted laugh.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's notes:_ Greetings everyone, for I returned with another chapter. I also have some good news. Another fic about Asuka will becoming sometime in the future, a very different one that I've been plotting up for sometime now. I won't reveal much on it since you guys know how secreative I am about my fics, but I can say it's coming. Anyway, read and enjoy the fic. _**

* * *

Asuka had choked shaken coughs, ejecting sprinkles of warm saliva from her throat as Hwoarang tried to squeeze as much life out of the girl as he saw fit. She could not understand Hwoarang's anger, the pain that had drove him mad the moment Demonsquose had issued a command to him. But that had to be the cause, and Asuka learned that somehow Demonsquose was controlling Hwoarang. If she did not act fast, her oxygen would continue to deplete rapidly until she met the very occurrence of her unwanted demise. Given only one choice, Asuka smashed her foot into the zombie like Hwoarang's exposed chest and sent him skidding half way across the concrete built ring floor. 

"You, somehow I can tell you're tied into this," she said, turning to face Demonsquose.

"Slave! Get back up and finish her," the haggard fighter said, referring to Hwoarang.

The Korean stood on one foot from the floor and then soon got up on the other. He prepared to charge Asuka and strangle her again, but she was ready, and kicked him as he neared her body. With a vast array of blows, the girl from Japan laid on a hefty amount of combos to Hwoarang's chest, face, and legs. However, he continued to pursue her, his wounds healing quickly as she stepped back to think of another plan.

_"Damn. He's eating up all my attacks."_

Hwoarang returned Asuka's attack in the form of a harsh kick below the waist. Asuka bent over as she felt the pain worsen, holding herself. Hwoarang's attacks were never so strong, but they were now. Regardless of that, Asuka did not give in though. She did her best to keep throwing out attacks, but her efforts soon became reckless, not having any effect on the Korean. Every strike issued was absorbed and shaken off.

Jin Kazama watched from the outside in the mist of the shadows as the girl that had helped him through his sickness took a rough beating from his Korean rival. There, he had sensed something strange happening behind the scenes as the two fought. Suddenly, from outside of the ring, Jin could feel something pulsating within him, something not too pleasant. It was the same ill pain, the pain he had felt before in the hotel room coming back to haunt him. It started in the form of a single thud and later turned into brisk fire that burned inside his heart and mind. His brain felt like it was on fire, melting away into nothing but ashes. Clinching his naked ribs, he could acknowledge the pain was coiling, burning down there too. As it worsened, he could feel himself changing, and, with that, he transformed, transformed into what had feared most, The Devil creature, the evil that had existed within him since he was but a small child. Jin had done terrible things as the Devil and looked to continue when he turned his attention elsewhere.

Setting his sights to the ring, the Devil that had taken control of the young man jumped into the ring with his eyes hardening a strong glare at both Asuka and Hwoarang.

"Now what?" Asuka said, annoyed.

"What the? Who are you?" asked Demonsquose.

The creature did not answer, only shooting a bright red laser beam out into the screaming crowd of spectators as some sort of response from the glowing retinas in his eyes. Asuka watched as hundreds of easily frightened people evacuated the arena, leaving the fighters as the only people left standing inside. Demonsquose was unsure of the Devil creature's power, but decided to take him on quickly. He obviously had some kind of scheme in store, but the transformed Jin was ruining it while it took its course. Before Demonsquose leaped into battle, he yelled to Asuka.

"Your execution shall start earlier than expected, little girl!"

"Execution? What are talking about?"

"You haven't seen trouble just yet. I assure you, you won't be disappointed.

He then ordered the rest of the available fighters to attack Asuka, which they did without hesitation. Fighters such as Julia Chang, Steve Fox, Craig Murdok, King, Marshall Law, Paul Phoenix, Lei Wulong and more joined together and surrounded the bewildered Asuka as Demonsquose locked into battle with the Devil creature.

It would seem the evil surrounding the area had brought out the devil inside Jin Kazama. He had tried to suppress it, suppress it from taking over his mind, but soon it had become too strong to resist. The evil energy Jin felt was feeding the devil and allowing him to do as pleased. However, Demonsquose's mind controlling powers had no effect on him as opposed to the others.

"You were not apart of the plan. Go away!" barked Demonsquose.

Devil Jin could only laugh crookedly as he delivered a strong blow that sent the new coming fighter to his knees.

"No one tells me what to do," the Devil hissed. "You will all be destroyed. All must parish! All must fall before me!"

Meanwhile, Asuka tried to fend off the repeated blows of Marshall Law and Craig Murdok as they swung at her from the front, with Julia and Steve attempting to get the jump on her from behind. Though this seemed tough, Asuka loved the thrill of taking on more than two people at once. Without warning, King had grabbed her from behind, but Asuka, of course, would not stand for it and elbowed the large wrestler in the gut harshly. A heavy growl escaped from the mask of the masked fighter and he soon let go after taking a strong shot below the belt from Asuka's hard fist.

"Come on, you chumps. You want a piece of me!" Asuka shouted, arrogantly. "I'll take you all on!"

Asuka swung wildly at all that came at her, kicking, punching, and even biting her way through the crowded mass of fighters that looked to maim and kill her. She flung her legs into the sternum of Craig Murdok and tripped him as he bent over. Next, Julia held on to Asuka from behind, but received a nasty head butt that had smashed into the center of her teeth. Following up, King and Steve Fox tried their hand at double teaming her, but Asuka demonstrated that she was well prepared for such a occasion, busting the English boxer across the nose with a battered fist and using the other to nail King in the ribs. Hwoarang was her next opponent, but she ceased herself from hitting him as he approached her.

"Hwoarang! I do not want to do this to you. Snap out of it!"

Asuka's words did not get though to the Korean and he instead chose to attack. He grabbed a hold of her before her feet ascended off the floor to kick him.

"Hwoarang… it's me… Asuka… the runt. Don't you remember?" she said, through closed teeth, spurting.

"Kill…..kill…..kill," he muttered, dryly. "Kill…kill…..kill…..me!"

"Huh?"

Asuka thought her ears had misheard the Korean, but she in fact was listening to his own disgruntled plea.

"Kill… me….Asukaaaa!"

Hwoarang was fighting two opposite battles, one with Asuka, and the other against the entity trying to take full control of his mind. He begged the girl to kill him as he fought, seeing it as his only means of escape. Deep down inside, he would rather die than be a slave to anyone for the sake of killing another human being, including Asuka, his only companion, the only friend he admired. Asuka would not stand for it though. Going against his wish, she chose not to kill him, figuring there had to be another way around the mess.

"No….. I'm not going to…. kill you. That isn't my forte," she told him. Soon enough, Asuka felt Hwoarang's grip over her slowly starting to weaken. Looking to her right, she could see the Devil had easily done away with Demonsquose, impaling his sharp horns though the man's chest.

Suddenly, Hwoarang's eyes reverted to their natural color, as did the other fighters.

"Suka……"

The Korean fell backward onto the concrete, ashamed of what he had done.

"Forgive me."

"You can apologize later," Asuka said. "Right now, we got another problem," she finished, turning to the Devil creature.


	10. Chapter 10

Quavering chills had hit Asuka's back, running down her spine in the form of cold sweatiness. The creature that was once the silent fighter, Jin Kazama, had locked glares with her intensely. She was not sure what this monster's abilities were, but from the vibe she was getting from him, they were threatening at best. Hwoarang, who lied beside Asuka's ankle, informed her that he had encountered the beast that dwelled within the confines of Jin's body before in the past.

"That creature. I recognize him. I fought him once before," Hwoarang stated. "He attacked me when I…."

"Say no more," said Asuka, cutting him off. "I already know what to do."

"Runt, now's not the time to act all big and bad."

"Who's acting? Not me."

The Devil creature snarled and approached the two fighters with a crooked smile, putting a finger up and pointing.

"You two shall feel the wrath of God!" he hissed.

"I'm not going feel anything, but the front of my hand kissing your face, monster!" Asuka countered.

Being the first to attack, Asuka took a swipe at the devil creature, missing as he made a speedy dodge to the right that left her touching nothing but air. After withdrawing her already swung fist, Asuka used the other to swing, but had missed yet again as the devil in Jin appeared to be toying with her while she used the best of her efforts to inflict damage, often coming up short without much success. By then, it was the devil's turn to do some bodily harm. With the stiff kick of his foot, he landed a blow that sent Asuka flying back, hitting the ground, feeling burns all around the back of her flesh.

Asuka knew this was not going to be an easy fight, but the creature had to have some type of weakness she could exploit. The odds were always more convenient to her, but not in this case. She needed to do something fast without actually hurting Jin, the Jin she knew. But all suggestions pointed toward killing the beast as the only means to defeat him. He was much too powerful and nothing else could be done to bring him to his knees as she tried everything in her book of tricks to take him out.

"This isn't working the way I had planed," Asuka mumbled. "I better do something else, fast!"

However, as the two got half way into their battle, the ground beneath them startled to shake in the form of an earthquake. Asuka fell butt first to the ring floor and watched as the devil creature stood over her, ready to deliver the final blow. His plans to kill the brash, young Japanese female were cut short, however, when a monstrous force suddenly emerged from under his legs and appeared instantly in a swirling wave of dust and dirt.

Asuka scooted herself away as the air started to kick up around her, throwing debris everywhere. As she rose, she could not believe her eyes the moment she looked up to see what stood in front of her. Two more monsters, bigger, stronger, and fiercer looking than the devil creature were now upon her, one being the transformed Jinpachi, the father of Heihachi, the grandfather of Kazuya, and the man she thought to have beaten and killed in the last tournament.

"Oh, what the? Hey! Where'd you come from? Arent you supposed to be gone or something? I defeated you, remember?" whined Asuka.

"Yes you did, I haven't forgotten. However, I never died, not from your hands, and defiantly not from anyone else's. It will never happen, never! Nothing can kill me, I am invincible!"

"Man, things just keep getting weirder and weirder," Hwoarang announced with a lazy sigh as he laid on the floor.

"I see you managed to get rid of our underling," said Jinpachi. But it does not matter, for he has served his purpose. The rest is all up to us now."

"Us?"

"Me and the one here called Ogre! We were both believed to have been dead, but now here we are, alive, and fully functioning. We have been lying dormant beneath the earth, gaining even more strength, realizing we share similar goals in mind. We now have what we need. And our first target….is you, little one!"

"Gee, aren't I the lucky one?" Asuka joked.

"Prepare for your demise!"

Jinpachi and Ogre stood side by side, suddenly glowing with raw, immense power. Within an instant, their bodies merged and formed into one single being. Together, they called themselves Ogre Jinpachi. And their first order of business was to attack Asuka.

Standing well above eight feet tall with horned spikes shooting out the sides of his large skull and his muscles bulging with newfound strength as his skin started to change an eerie green color, Ogre Jinpachi made the first move. With a quick leap forward, the mouth located at the center of Ogre Jinpahci's stomach opened up and started to suck Asuka inside it like a huge vacuum cleaner. As an act of defense, Asuka blocked herself from being sucked in, trying her best to shut the jaws of the sucking belly that wanted to consume her. But it was too powerful, too powerful for her to avoid, and with that, the first thing to go inside the creature's belly, was Asuka's head.

"Asuka!" Hwoarang screamed as he came behind and gripped her legs to yank her from the stomach's mouth.

Hwoarang tugged with all his might, but the creature sucked harder to consume all of Asuka. He could feel his grip loosing as nothing left could be seen but the sight of her legs kicking up and down rapidly. Loudly, from inside the monster, Asuka screamed as she struggled to escape the inside of the monster before the rest of her body went though. However, it was too late. Her legs suddenly passed through and no more of her body was visible from the outside. Asuka had been eaten, eaten and swallowed completely by Orge Jinpachi's stomach.

Hwoarang stumbled backward as he lost his grip, feeling nothing but air. His eyes widened in disbelief as he came to realize that Asuka was gone. At that moment, he did not think it would ever come to this, that he would not feel the way he did. But, the unthinkable had happened after all, and Hwoarang found himself angrily snarling in tears as the waterworks fell to the hard cement floor. The memories of Asuka then appeared before him, her laughing smile, her sassy voice, and her rock hard attitude. Gone, it was all gone before him now. As it lasted as nothing but a sweet memory that he could never bear to forget. The runt was gone and only thing Hwoarang could do was curse bitterly.

"Damn! Damn! Damn! No, this can't….be. Runt, your gone. I…I…..I can't believe this. This…..this isn't fair. Why? You were so young. You did not deserve this. I…..I liked you…..hell…I loved you……and this creature…….it took you away."

Hwoarang then rose to his feet, approaching the monster, still drained from his last fight.

"It's all your fault, monster! Do you hear me!"

The Korean was blind by anger, driven mad by the concealed emotions he felt for his lost female companion.

As Ogre Jinpachi turned to look down, he then found himself staring directly into the Korean's angry but mournful eyes.

"What's this? Another victim ready to die?"

"You….monster!" Hwoarang shouted as he shot up a kick that failed to touch its target and instead missed as Ogre Jinpachi grasped his neck and tossed himself like a small child. Hwoarang gasped for air as he lied on the floor, weak and in no condition to do anything to stop the tyrannical beast. It would seem the monster had got his way, for Asuka was gone, leaving him free to do as pleased with her out of the way, figuring she would be the most likely threat to oppose him if not taken care of immediately. Quickly, as the monster generated a surge of power through his pulsating arms, Hwoarang rose up from the floor again and leaped forward to attack the beast once more, despite his weariness.


	11. Chapter 11

Darkness was all Asuka could see, that was, until she stood up to open the lids of her eyes. Disgusted, she immediately came to know that she was deep inside Ogre Jinpachi's stomach. The air was putrid, smelling worse than anything Asuka ever inhaled through her nostrils.

"Oh great, I'm in its stomach," she said with an uneasy whine. "I thought I was a goner. Oh well, how the hell do I get out of this place?"

Asuka took a few steps and jumped back, startled as her foot started to smoke. The ground was littered with green pools of stomach acid that would burn away just about anything it touched, and this made Asuka even more grossed out than before. She had to get out before Ogre Jinpachi's stomach would start to digest. She had very little time and immediately hurried up ahead to see if she could find a way out. It was still dark, but not so much that it hindered her from seeing what was in front of her. The vulgarity of it all made her cringe as little wet droppings suddenly fell from the top, almost falling on her head.

"Yuck!" she shouted. "I don't know what that is, but I sure aint touching it to find out!"

Suddenly, she got an idea.

"I remember when I was little that I used to complain to my father about tummy aches, which felt like someone was pounding on the insides of my stomach. Hmmm….I wonder."

Asuka went to the nearest wall, grinning evilly, and punched it with all her might. Outside, Ogre Jinpachi's stomach rattled after he had uppercutted Hwoarang into the dirt. Covering his belly, questioning the cause of its constant gurgling, he felt another sharp pain hit him below.

"Ooooo, what's going on?"

"That's it, big guy. You feel that?" Asuka said, as she continued to kick and punch from the inside.

Suddenly, the whole area around her shook tremendously and Asuka found herself stumbling over. Within an instant, Ogre Jinpachi puked out the petite girl from Japan as she fell into the dirt, covered in foul smelling vomit.

"Ha! I knew that would work. Eww, yuck. I'm covered in stinkyness."

Unexpectedly, Asuka heard a voice call to her.

"Runt….is that you? Or am I just drunk and seeing things again."

Hwoarang crawled to his feet, a warm smile coming over his bruised face.

"No, its me. In the flesh!" Asuka confirmed.

Ogre Jinpachi then appeared before her, boiled with anger. He immediately sent his fist crashing into the ground, which caused Asuka to step back and return with a swiping kick that knocked him back slightly. The creature was big, very big, but she could still damage him if she could locate the correct weak points. Brutally, she kicked his leg and cart wheeled out of the way before having to taste the end of his monstrous fist. Upon recovering, she darted behind the fiendish Ogre Jinpachi, but took a blow to the face from his retracting hand. She fell into the dirt and sat up, checking for signs of blood on her face. Then, from the sky, the devil creature appeared swooping down, and ramming himself into Ogre Jinpachi.

"There's only room enough for one monster here!" he snarled, shooting lasers from his eyes.

Ogre Jinpachi knocked the beams away with a smack and grabbed hold of the devil creature once he tried to attack him again. While the two fought, Asuka saw this as a great diversion to plan another strategy of her own. She came up behind the Ogre monster and landed a blow to his back while his attention remained focused on the devil creature. With both Asuka and the devil attacking him, Ogre Jinpachi generated electricity from his body and exploded it all around to hit anything close to him. Asuka flew backward, as did the devil, but they hung in there, and when they came back, they suddenly attacked the large beast at the same time, Asuka with a whip kick, and the devil with a hard smashing head butt. Ogre Jinpachi quickly slapped the devil creature away as he closed in on him, leaving the battle between Asuka and himself. The large creature stumbled, seeming exhausted, losing his strength rapidly from so many blows. Asuka took it upon herself to take advantage and ended the dispute with finishing combo of thrusting kicks and hard-hitting punches that left him whimpering in pain.

"I…..I……..I can't ……be defeated……not like this!"

Suddenly, the monster froze in place, transformed into a solid standing statue, and broke into several peaces, dead. Asuka looked over and saw the devil monster lying on the floor, nearly unconscious. Quickly, she ran to his side and placed her hands on him, gripping his shoulders.

"Jin! Jin! Come on! Don't die on me like this!"

The horns from the creature's head soon faded, and the grizzled marks on his chest and body disappeared as well, with the wings vanishing too. The devil was gone and Jin Kazama was now normal again. However, the fight had left Asuka dazed and tired, unable to move herself off the ground after she had noticed Jin was fine.

Sweat poured from the stems of Asuka's ruffled hair as she fell backward, tired, and nearly unable to move. The fight had taken a lot out of her and she was in dire need of rest. Standing over her, Hwoarang smiled as he lifted her up into his arms, cradling her like a small child.

"Come on, runt. Let's go. I'd offer you a drink, but I don't think your quite old enough for that yet, heh heh."

Asuka snickered with one eye closed. She wanted to give one of her smart comments toward him, but just left it alone.

"Eww, your also in need of a bath too! Let's get you in the shower first."

Xiaoyu then appeared helping Jin to his feet, pulling him toward Hwoarang.

"What happened to the other fighters?" Hwoarang questioned.

"They all left."

"What? You mean, this whole time they were gone?"

"I guess they were just in it for the tournament, selfish pigs."

"_What a bunch of cowards,"_ Hwoarang thought.

"Come on, Jin, lets get you back in bed," Xiaoyu said to the clam, silent fighter.

Several hours passed with Asuka making a steady recovery. Normally, it would have taken someone a much longer time to heal, but not Asuka. She could take just as much punishment as anybody, possibly even more and still manage to walk, depending on the damage, however. When she had finally awoken on the bed of her hotel room, Hwoarang sat at her side, holding back a chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Asuka said, with a little bass in her voice.

"You look like shit, runt."

"Yeah? Well, I don't look half as bad as your face.

She then sat up and moved out from underneath the blankets.

"So, did you miss me?"

"A little."

"Ha! That's what I thought you'd say. I bet you were crying your whole heart out after I got swallowed by that thing."

"Heh, don't quit your day job. That never happened. I knew you were still alive."

"No, no you did not. I can tell your lying to me right now."

"Oh really? And how's that?"

"Because, mother always told me that boys grip their collars when they lie."

Hwoarang looked down at his shirt and immediately took his hand away from the collar of his shirt.

"Ok, maybe I lied a little bit," he admitted, defensively.

"More so then that," Asuka countered.

She stood up on her feet and walked over to him.

"I know I don't say this often, but thanks for hanging out with me."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Normally, boys are intimidated by me. So far, you're the only guy I know that can actually tolerate me."

Hwoarang rubbed his foot against the wall, slightly blushing.

"Well, your welcome, I guess."

"Now tell me really, weren't you really just messing with me from the beginning to get in my pants?"

"Was I that obvious?"

"In short, yes. You boys aren't very good at hiding that sort of thing, you know?"

"Guess not. So, everyone's getting ready to check out. Where are you going?"

"Home. Where else? I'm going back to school and then back to training again. Where will you be?"

"Um, I'll be around. I have to meet up with the old gang and get my money from some chump that owes me, big time! Then I'm going to have to take the rap for putting that stuff in my master's tea. Most likely, it will be a while before I do anything after that. I know he'll kick my ass once he finds out."

Asuka then grabbed her luggage, with Hwoarang aiding her, and proceeded downstairs into the lobby. Outside, there was a taxi waiting for her. But before she stepped in, after tossing her bags in the car, she walked toward the Korean one final time and hugged him. Hwoarang was speechless, but as he maintained his cool, he took a quick glance at Asuka's rump and squeezed it with all his might, receiving a hard slap in the process.

"Don't you dare tell anybody I did that," Asuka said, pulling herself away with a serious gaze.

"I won't."

"I'll see you around sometime?"

"No doubt you will. As long that old fart keeps having tournaments and Kazama is in them, you can bet your sweet ass you'll see me again. But hey, even if that big chicken does not enter, I'll still enter if your around."

"Good to know."

Asuka waved to the Korean as she stepped into the taxi, seating herself comfortably. Suddenly, Hworang's master ran out of the hotel, screaming angrily at his pupil.

"Hwoarang! You had better have a good explanation about that tea I had. I couldn't leave the bathroom for hours and I….."

"Oh shit! Sorry old man, don't have time to hear you nag."

Hwoarang dashed to the seat of his motorcycle parked out front and started the engine as he gripped the handlebars. As he sped by the taxi, while being chased by his master, he waved to Asuka as he disappeared in a quick blur.

"Ha, some people never learn," Asuka smirked. "I cannot wait to get back home and tell father what happened to me. Boy is he going to be surprised."

Slowly but surely, Asuka began to close her eyes and wander off to sleep. She had been through one heck of a ride, meeting new friends, old enemies, and a crazy array of people all-together. Now she could rest. It was all over, but somehow she knew that the fun would not end, knowing there were more hurdles for her to climb and conquer. All she can think about was that invitation she was sent to join the tournament. Whatever the case was, for her and the others, taking part in the tournament was indeed one enchanting opportunity.

_A/N: Well, that's it. Thanks for reading. I have another Asuka story coming up soon sometime next year, so don't think I'm done with her yet. Peace!_


End file.
